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Thursday, February 02, 2012

Keeping On Track

It gets terribly loud
inside my brain sometimes. I’ve got two series’ worth of characters, one of
which seems to have a cast of thousands, running around up there, clamoring to
be heard. And sometimes, those characters get pushy. I know writers who control
everything in their worlds they write, but it confounds me that they can do
that. My characters take on a life of their own—to the point of where I’ll find
myself arguing with them over certain points. I hate to admit it, but usually
they’re right.

When I’m writing, if I get
stuck, it’s usually because I’ve taken a wrong turn. Either I’ve tried to force
the characters into a scene that doesn’t fit them or the story, or I haven’t
listened to my instinct on the storyline itself. Since I’m an organic writer—I
don’t plot in advance, except for the highlights of the book—I really have to
listen to the story and characters as I write to ensure that everything works
out right in the end.

With the Indigo
Court Series, my special challenges in writing are that the series
reads and unfolds almost like it takes place in a dream-state. Magic and
mysticism are inherent to the series, and everything in the world is magical in
one way or another. I feel my way through, like I’m following a trail of
breadcrumbs through the snow, much like my characters are trying to push
through the horrible magical winter that Myst, the Queen of the Indigo Court,
has brought to the world. And balancing Cicely’s love for Grieve, the Fae
Prince, with her irresistible pull toward the hedonistic vampire Lannan is like
walking a tightrope. The series is finite—it will end at five books—and I can
see the end, but I’m still not sure how I’m going to get there.

And with my Otherworld
Series—which is on its eleventh book and has quite a ways to go—my
special challenges in writing are that by now, the world has grown large, and the
cast larger. So balancing each book’s cast list is a delicate matter. It helps
that there are three main characters—Camille, Menolly, and Delilah D’Artigo,
who are half-human, half-Fae. The books round robin through their POVs, so each
sister has her own posse of friends, lovers, while the others play supporting
roles when it’s her turn at the helm. This keeps the writing, the world, and
the characters, fresh for me.

When people ask me what I
do for writer’s block, the only thing I can tell them is that I don’t get
writer’s block, because on contract, I can’t afford to get writer’s block.
However, if I do get stuck for a little while, I go back to the last place it
was working and look for where the story got off track. And I always find the
place it went astray and then I fix it. Because the story is what matters.

So, what do you do when you
find yourself stuck, whether it be writing a scene, or figuring out what to
have for dinner? How do you make decisions?

New
York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author
Yasmine Galenorn writes urban fantasy for Berkley: both the Otherworld/Sisters
of the Moon Series for Berkley and the Indigo Court urban fantasy series.In the past, she wrote mysteries for Berkley
Prime Crime, and nonfiction metaphysical books.

Yasmine has been in the
Craft for over 30 years, is a shamanic witch, and describes her life as a blend
of teacups and tattoos.She lives in
Kirkland WA with her husband Samwise and their cats.Yasmine can be reached via her website at www.galenorn.com

When I get really stuck, I have to step away for a few minutes. Sometimes, when I go back to that stubborn WIP, I can jump right back in, or, start working on a different section. But distracting myself and giving my mind a break tends to work.

I've been stuck for a while on the paranormal novel that I'm currently writing, so I am all too familiar with the feeling. This is really the longest time that I've felt stuck. Since I'm not on contract, I had the luxury of just putting it aside for a while and writing other things. I'm finishing up a sci-fi short story that has been rolling around in my head for a while and I'm also taking a screenwriting class at UCSD Extension. After finishing a draft of the short story and getting a few short script scene assignments done, I can feel the ice starting break away from the paranormal novel and I actually got something done on it this morning.